Dancing With Parkinson's Class Gives Gift Of Movement

Canadaâ€™s National Ballet School is offering a dance class thatâ€™s giving the joy of movement back to people living with Parkinsonâ€™s disease.

Dancing With Parkinsonâ€™s invites participants to attend a class and work on their co-ordination, balance and stamina â€” physical abilities often affected by the disease.

The classes, offered in Toronto and the surrounding area, are an accessible way for participants to enjoy movement, giving them a momentary break from the realities of their condition.

â€śYou realize at the end that youâ€™ve moved without really thinking about it.â€ť

â€śYou realize at the end that youâ€™ve moved without really thinking about it,â€ť said participant Hugh Crosthwait.

He explained people with Parkinsonâ€™s are always conscious of movement. They're concerned about falling or knocking things over so the dance creates what he calls a â€śflow.â€ť It allows them to forget about how they are moving and just have fun.

The class has fostered a community of support, and encourages participants to leave behind any self-consciousness they may feel because of their condition.

Part dance class, part study

Researchers are using the class to monitor how Parkinsonâ€™s impacts the body, and whether dance affects the brains of people with the disease.

A study published last year in the Journal of Neural Transmission suggested that participants experienced improvements in overall movement, as well as feelings of empowerment and a sense of community after taking the class.

Dancing With Parkinson's was designed by Sarah Robichaud, a classically trained dancer who took an interest in the disease when a client asked for her help to manage their symptoms through exercise.

After that, she attended a workshop in New York for Parkinsonâ€™s disease dancing and brought the methods she learned back to Canada.

Fox, known for his roles in "Spin City" and the "Back to the Future" trilogy, was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease at age 30 in 1991, according to his foundation's website. However, he didn't share his condition publicly until 1998, and he officially retired from "Spin City" in 2000.
That same year, Fox launched The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, which is dedicated to raising awareness and funding.

The former U.S. Attorney General -- and the first woman to hold that position -- announced her diagnosis of Parkinson's in 1995, the New York Times reported. The first sign for her was uncontrollable shaking of her left hand.
"Her hand shook like mad, but she pointed out that her brain wasn't shaking," Reno's sister, Maggy Hurchalla, said at the opening of the University of Florida Center for Movement Disorders and Neurorestoration last year, according to a statement.
Reno told the American Academy of Neurology's Neurology Now in 2006 that even though the tremors associated with her condition have become worse throughout the years, they have been mainly in her left hand.

Kerr, who had roles in "The King & I," "From Here to Eternity" and "An Affair to Remember," passed away from Parkinson's at age 86 in 2007, People magazine reported.
TCM reported that the actress was diagnosed with the condition in 1994, and had to use a wheelchair.